Absent Russia will win World Cup, 8 percent of nation say

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Eight percent of Russians believe their national team will win the World Cup, despite the fact that it never qualified for the tournament, an independent poll has showed.
Russian pride was shattered when its team was denied a place at the world's most-watched sporting event, currently underway in South Africa, when they were defeated by Slovenia in the qualifying stage.
The poll, conducted by Russia's Levada Center between the 18th and the 22nd of June, surveyed 1,600 Russian adults across 130 cities.
Brazil -- currently pegged a favorite by several bookmakers -- came top of the poll, with 33 percent of Russians believing the football powerhouse will take home the trophy.
Two percent of those polled said prime Russian tourist spot Turkey, also absent from the Cup, would win.
Despite the Russian team's absence, Moscow's bars are filled with excited fans ardently watching the matches. The Kremlin is also eagerly awaiting December's decision on whether or not its bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 has been successful.
The Russian team has previously enjoyed a mixed record in international football, securing a historic semi-final place at the European Championship in 2008. However it failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
FIFA, which runs the World Cup, considers the Russian team the direct successor to the Soviet squad, whose pinnacle of sporting achievement was victory in the inaugural European Championships in Paris in 1960. It beat fellow Communists Yugoslavia.

Fireworks could brighten up Rhode Island budget

BOSTON (Reuters) – The cash-strapped state of Rhode Island is hoping to turn residents' patriotic fervor into a boost in tax revenue this July 4th, after passing a law that legalizes small fireworks for individual use.
Fireworks, along with barbecues and parades, have long been a part of Independence Day celebrations across the country, and a growing number of states have moved to legalize small fireworks over the past decade in a bid to discourage people from buying larger, and more dangerous, illegal firecrackers and rockets.
Legislators in the nation's smallest state have not estimated just how much tax revenue Rhode Island could generate from the law, which took effect on June 14. But state officials said sales of fireworks could reach into the millions of dollars annually, all of which would be subject to the state's 7 percent sales tax.
The law allows small, ground-based fireworks like sparklers and fountains, but forbids rockets and anything that explodes.
"Used properly, small fireworks like these are a fun, exciting way for families to celebrate the holiday. Rhode Islanders shouldn't have to sneak them over the border from another state," said State Representative J. Patrick O'Neill.
Neighboring Connecticut also allows small, ground-based fireworks, while adjacent Massachusetts forbids them entirely.
Since Connecticut legalized small fireworks in 2000, it has fewer arrests for selling or using banned rockets and firecrackers, said Lieutenant J. Paul Vance of the state police.
"We think the sparkler thing has put some of that out of business," Vance said. "People who sell these devices in Connecticut call them 'fireworks,' and that seems to satisfy people."
The states of New York, New Jersey and Delaware also ban fireworks entirely.
Rhode Island closed what had been projected to be a $427 million deficit in its $7.8 billion 2011 budget by cutting spending, including support to local city governments.

Lock of Napoleon's hair sells for $13,000

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – A lock of hair cut from Napoleon Bonaparte's head after he died has sold for US$13,000 at an auction in New Zealand.
Extra phone lines were installed for the sale to cope with an expected rush of international buyers seeking to snip up the hair cut from the head of former French Emperor a day after his death in 1821 while he was in exile on the island of St. Helena.
The circle of hair was part of a collection brought to New Zealand in 1864 by Denzil Ibbetson, a British commissary officer and artist.
Ibbetson served on St. Helena during the six years that Napoleon was held on the island after being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
The collection of about 40 items, including sketches by Ibbetson of Napoleon on his death bed at the age of 51, was sold by the descendants of Ibbetson.
"The collection has really been in remarkable condition and the family has to be commended for preserving this material for all this time, it's nearly 200 years old," Hamish Coney, managing director of the Art+Object Auction House, told Reuters Television.
"In terms of a historical collection that will be located in New Zealand, it's probably one of the most important collections that has ever been found."
According to the auction house the lock was bought by an unnamed collector in London.
Coney said as well as local interest in New Zealand, there had been interest from Hong Kong, the United States, Lithuania and France.